Carla Canales is an American mezzo-soprano and a longtime cultural envoy for both the U.S. State Department and the President’s Committee on Arts and the Humanities. On stage, she is widely acclaimed for her interpretation of Carmen, the lead role in Bizet’s four-act opera which she has performed in 12 countries. Prior to joining the Biden-Harris Administration, Ms. Canales oversaw cultural diplomacy initiatives at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and the Harvard Kennedy School where she continues to teach. In 2015, she was named among the 100 Leading Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine.